June Wortman to GV News: More demonstrations feb 14 and 24

January 28, 2007

Dear Editor,

Thank you for not only covering the Peace Demonstration yesterday, January 27, but for being there to observe for yourself.

I do not understand your editorially expressed concern about violence that might develop from such demonstrations. In my memory, the only violence that resulted from peace demonstrations was violence perpetrated by the police. The incident in Chicago, years ago, and incidents in New York occurred when the police cordoned off the demonstrators into small isolated areas, rushed them with guard dogs, water-hosed them, and other rough tactics, shackled them and took them to jail. . The same was true of the early peace walks in Selma, Alabama. Even today, through the CIA's monitoring of peace groups such as American Friends Service Committee, and the spying on emails that the Bush administration has been doing without court permission, "peace- nicks" are still being treated like criminals, and terrorist threats, and are often called terrorist sympathysers in the conservative press. So why are you worried about violence from the peace-loving people? Why not worry more about the possibilities of our moving toward an abusive police state?

Do we not have the right, in our Constitution, to protest against government policy without being considered sedition or traitorous? The Declaration of Independence even presents the rights of citizens to over-throw the government.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

I hope your concern about future violence, and implication of blaming the peaceful demonstrators, will not frighten and intimidate people from continuing to participate in peaceful demonstrations. Your continued coverage should help to present the facts of such demonstration, whatever occurs The courts, I am sure, will continue to uphold, as they have in the past, the right to peaceful demonstration, and dismiss charges that are brought against whose only crime has been to be present at such demonstrations.

We do plan to have more such peaceful demonstrations, one on Wednesday, February 14 at 10:00am - "Make Love, Not War" on Valentines Day, and another on Saturday, February 24 at 1:00pm, both at the same location, Esperanza and La Canada Blvds. Anyone wanting information can contact JunesRag@cox.net or call 520-648-5877. We will continue them until or government gets out of Iraq and ends our military interference in the Middle East, a policy that the majority of American citizens support, according to the last election and the opinion polls. All are welcome to participate in these non-politically sponsored events.

Yours in hope and peace, June Wortman